ISPs to introduce ADSL in Lebanon

Internet service providers (ISPs) are to launch high-speed broadband in Lebanon after the service was finally made available by the government earlier this month.

Internet service providers (ISPs) are to launch high-speed broadband in Lebanon after the service was finally made available by the government earlier this month.

Lebanese ISP IncoNet-Data Management (IDM) this week said it was launching ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) services over the telephone lines of Ogero, the leading operator in Lebanon.

IDM said the service would be launched in ten locations initially and built up as more areas became ADSL ready. The company said it expected 100 out of 400 total locations would be ADSL ready by next year.

IDM's announcement comes a week after Lebanese wireless networking firm Cedarcom unveiled plans to offer ADSL services in the country through a partnership with Nokia Siemens Networks.

The company said it would start its service "in the coming weeks", covering 36 exchanges all over Lebanon.

The launch of high-speed broadband has suffered a series of setbacks over the past year. The service was originally supposed to begin in March, but was delayed because of "administrative slowness", according to ISPs.

"Lebanon was outside the knowledge economy, and now it enters it through the front door," Lebanese Minister of Communication Marwan Hamadeh said at a ceremony this week to mark the launch of ADSL, local media reported.

According to Cedarcom, internet penetration rates in Lebanon currently stand at around 12%.